VERBUND puts flood emergency plan for the Drava river into effect

10/27/2018Feistritz-Ludmannsdorf

Interim injunction to protect the municipality of Lavamünd requires massive lowering of the large reservoirs in Carinthia.

On the basis of an interim injunction issued by the authorities, the power plant operator VERBUND began lowering the Völkermarkter reservoir by four (!) metres at 5.00 pm. The reservoir levels at the Annabrücke, Ferlach, Feistritz and Rosegg power plants on the Drava will also have to lowered by 2.5 metres. The goal of this measure is to create a safety buffer to be able to contain the large flow rates anticipated at the peak of the Drava flooding upstream of the unprotected municipality of Lavamünd.
Along the Drava in Carinthia, the VERBUND power plant chain provides reliable protection against flooding over a distance of 150 kilometres, and last proved its worth when the Drava flooded in 2012. Outside this power plant chain lies the municipality of Lavamünd on the border with Slovenia. The municipality currently has no technical flood defences.

Due to the large rainfall and flow volumes forecast for the lower Drava in the coming days, the power plant operator VERBUND was commissioned by means of a temporary injunction to take extraordinary action to create a safety buffer for the municipality of Lavamünd. And so at 5.00 pm on Saturday, work began to lower the water level in the Völkermarkter reservoir at the Edling power plant beyond the normal safety limits by four (!) metres. This activity will be completed in time for the high flow rates expected on the lower Drava on Monday and Tuesday.
For the first time, the reservoirs at the Annabrücke and Ferlach power plants will also be lowered by 2.5 m; the reservoir levels at the Rosegg (Villach urban area) and Feistritz power plants have also already been lowered by 2.5 metres as part of normal flood precautions.

Along the Drava, VERBUND operates ten hydropower plants that produce more than half of the entire annual electricity requirement in Carinthia.
More about the Drava at www.verbund.com/drau

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